Bulls receive Potato Bowl 'swag'

By DAVID J. HILL

One of the perks of going to a bowl game is receiving a bunch of
gear to help remember the occasion. Each bowl provides a package of
swag for the participating teams.

Wednesday evening, Buffalo players were called by class year
into a hotel conference room to collect their gear. The Famous
Idaho Potato Bowl provided players with a package containing
jackets, hats, gloves and footballs with the bowl game date and
their opponent on them.

Dalton Barksdale is the proud owner of some Famous Idaho Potato Bowl gear. Photo: David J. Hill

"It's rewarding. It's a blessing that we're even here," said
Tedroy Lynch, a junior defensive end from Shiremanstown, Pa. "Not
everybody gets to make a bowl. You've got people who go through
their whole college career and never make one. We're here right
now, and the more things we have to remember it by the better."

In addition to the bowl gear, the bowl's corporate sponsors also
provided items such as watches and electronics from which the
players could choose. While players certainly appreciated those
items, they seemed far more enthused by the Potato Bowl gear, which
helped put into perspective just how special this moment is for the
Bulls.

“It’s amazing — the jacket, the gloves —
I like it all. I’m gonna wear this stuff every day for the
rest of my life, until it breaks, and then I’ll be sad that I
broke it,” said a grinning Dalton Barksdale, a junior
defensive lineman from Detroit.